ELEGANT: Lights and glass panels adorn the bar at The Bazaar by Jose Andres. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times) It takes a very special restaurant to earn a high ranking from the Los Angeles Times. There must be an almost magical combination of cooking, service and ambience. But...

On a recent morning, I walked through downtown L.A.'s Grand Central Market — cortado from G&B in one hand; in the other, a cloth bag holding, among other things, a half-empty jar of Nutella and a spoon. I wanted to buy some bread, and at Clark Street Bread, baker-owner Zack Hall, his...